SteelConnect is industry’s first and only product to unify network connectivity and orchestration of application delivery across hybrid WANs, remote LANs and cloud networks with a complete line of WAN gateways, LAN switches, and Wi-Fi access points managed centrally from a cloud console

SAN FRANCISCO – April 26, 2016 – In a major move to revolutionize networking, Riverbed Technology, the application performance company, today launched Riverbed SteelConnect™, an SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) solution that offers a radically new approach to networking in a cloud-centric world. Leveraging its deep application knowledge, Riverbed is delivering an application-defined approach to networking, with SteelConnect uniquely designed to enable business-intent policies for applications to provide the performance and agility enterprises need today. SteelConnect is the industry’s first and only product to unify network connectivity and orchestration of application delivery across hybrid WANs, remote LANs and cloud networks such as AWS (available today) and Microsoft Azure (later this year).

With a fully integrated line of secure WAN gateways, remote LAN switches and Wi-Fi access points, all managed centrally through a cloud console with an intuitive and graphical user interface, SteelConnect dramatically simplifies and streamlines the process of designing, deploying and managing distributed networks, enabling organizations to modernize their network architecture to realize the full potential of digital transformation.

“The market is going through one of the largest transformations ever, with organizations moving quickly to adopt more digital and cloud services and hybrid networks,” said Jerry M. Kennelly, Riverbed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Unfortunately, legacy approaches to managing distributed networks and routing – which are hardware-bound, hard-coded, inflexible and error-prone – haven’t changed much in 20 years. We believe SteelConnect has the potential to disrupt the multi-billion dollar branch office router market and re-define networking as we know it today. With SteelConnect, we’re delivering an application-defined networking solution that leverages Riverbed’s application DNA and integrates industry-leading visibility, to provide the agility, simplicity and speed enterprises need to manage today’s complex cloud and hybrid architectures.”

Industry analyst projections indicate enormous pent-up demand for newer and better approaches to networking. Gartner expects SD-WAN uptake to grow from less than 1% of enterprises today to 30% of enterprises by the end of 2019, and IDC expects the worldwide SD-WAN market to grow from less than $225 million in 2015 to more than $6 billion in 2020[2].

“We’re seeing very strong interest in SD-WAN, driven by the complexity in hybrid clouds and networks, the need to drive efficiencies, and the desire for flexibility to easily shift workloads and deploy new applications and services,” said Brad Casemore, Research Director, IDC. “Riverbed is well positioned in the emerging market for SD-WAN and the broader enterprise branch networking opportunity, with a differentiated initial offering in SteelConnect, and a strategic roadmap that leverages Riverbed’s experience providing network and application visibility and optimization.”

“SteelConnect represents a complete rethink of how networks should be built and managed in today’s cloud-centric world,” said Paul O’Farrell, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Riverbed’s SteelConnect, SteelHead and SteelFusion business units. “SteelConnect provides a new experience of networking for both IT and business, where deploying and managing network services is as intuitive as downloading apps onto your smart phone and as instant as spinning up compute and storage resources into a public cloud.”

Businesses are increasingly using private and public cloud-based infrastructure solutions. SteelConnect uniquely provides single-click and instant provisioning of secure WAN gateways into cloud environments as part of the broader solution, unifying the management workflow and policy-based orchestration of both on-premises and cloud network environments.

“SteelConnect is a compelling SD-WAN solution in AWS Marketplace, as it provides customers with an easy-to-manage solution that delivers agility, security and performance for hybrid architectures,” said Barry Russell, General Manager of Global Business Development, AWS Marketplace and Catalog Services, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “The availability of SteelConnect in AWS Marketplace provides customers with a streamlined way to immediately purchase and deploy the application-centric software-defined solutions IT organizations need to evolve their networks to meet the demands of the business.”

The SteelConnect system is designed to address modern challenges associated with ensuring fast, agile and secure delivery of applications across a hybrid enterprise with a unique set of capabilities:

Business-aligned Orchestration: Instead of managing networks through configuration of individual appliances, SteelConnect provides policy-based orchestration that is naturally aligned to the language and priorities of business: Applications, Users, Locations, Performance SLAs and Security requirements. An IT network architect can now easily set up global or local policies such as: send all video application traffic over the highest-capacity circuits; send software updates over Internet broadband circuits; or send all business traffic over secure VPNs. Previously network operators needed to enter hundreds or thousands of lines of CLI (command line interface) code to make network and application changes, which is both inefficient and prone to human error.

Cloud-based Management Experience: SteelConnect provides an intuitive graphical user interface that supports an agile and intent-based workflow for managing networks. With SteelConnect, operators can design every aspect of a distributed network before deploying any hardware.

Zero-touch provisioning then provides instant deployment of physical devices into a network. Central management of global network policies enables agile and efficient updates to support business requirements.

Screen Caption: Riverbed SteelConnect provides an intuitive graphical user interface that supports an agile and intent-based workflow for managing networks. With SteelConnect, operators can design every aspect of a distributed network before deploying any hardware. Zero-touch provisioning then provides instant deployment of physical devices into a network.

Screen Caption: Instead of managing networks through configuration of individual appliances, Riverbed SteelConnect provides policy-based orchestration that is naturally aligned to the language and priorities of business.

SteelConnect components include:

SteelConnect Manager: A centralized and multi-tenant management portal that provides an intuitive and simplified workflow for designing, deploying and managing distributed and hybrid networks.

SteelConnect Switches & SteelConnect Access Points: A line of remote LAN switches and Wi-Fi access points that support zero-touch provisioning, automate global enforcement of access control policies and provide complete visibility into connected users and devices.

Availability

SteelConnect is available today through Riverbed’s Early Access Program, with General Availability for SteelConnect planned for Fall 2016. Visit www.riverbed.com/SteelConnect for more information and how to register for the SteelConnect Early Access Program.

Riverbed®, The Digital Performance Company™, enables organizations to maximize digital performance across every aspect of their business, allowing customers to rethink possible. Riverbed’s unified and integrated Digital Performance Platform™ brings together a powerful combination of Digital Experience, Cloud Networking and Cloud Edge solutions that provides a modern IT architecture for the digital enterprise, delivering new levels of operational agility and dramatically accelerating business performance and outcomes. At more than $1 billion in annual revenue, Riverbed’s 30,000+ customers include 98% of the Fortune 100 and 100% of the Forbes Global 100. Learn more at riverbed.com.

Riverbed and any Riverbed product or service name or logo used herein are trademarks of Riverbed Technology, Inc. All other trademarks used herein belong to their respective owners.